DSCC going up on Iowa airwaves

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee will launch a half-million-dollar television-ad campaign in Iowa on Tuesday against GOP nominee Joni Ernst, hitting her on entitlements.

“She’s proposed privatizing Social Security — gambling our savings in the stock market,” a female narrator says in the commercial, shared first with POLITICO. “Experts say that could be a windfall for Wall Street but a wipeout for us.”

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“Joni Ernst — her ideas are just too extreme for Iowa,” the 30-second spot concludes.

The DSCC has reserved $188,000 in Des Moines, $145,000 in Davenport, $109,000 in Cedar Rapids and $72,000 in Sioux City between July 22 and August 4. It’s all broadcast, according to a source tracking the air war.

This a sizable early buy for the national party to make mid-summer, coming in the wake of an NBC News/Marist poll last week that showed the race tied at 43 percent. The Cook Political Report and Rothenberg Political Report also recently moved the contest from “Lean Democrat” to “Toss Up.”

The DSCC has already run ads this cycle in Montana and Arkansas.

Rep. Bruce Braley, the Democratic nominee, has spent the better part of the last month hammering away on the Social Security issue.

Meanwhile, Republicans and conservative outside groups — including American Crossroads and Americans for Prosperity — have been up with big buys hitting Braley.

The DSCC commercial starts and finishes with a clip of Ernst saying: “People are going to know who Joni Ernst and what I stand for.”

The aggressive, early ad by by the DSCC is reflection of Ernst’s post-primary bounce, even though she remains largely undefined. In the NBC/Marist poll, 38 percent of registered voters viewed her favorably, 33 percent viewed her unfavorably, and 28 percent did not know enough to offer an opinion.

The Ernst campaign pushed back on the ad.

“Unlike Bruce Braley, whose plan for Social Security is let it go broke, Joni will protect Social Security for seniors like her parents, and ensure it’s there for generations to come, like her daughters and grandchildren,” said Ernst spokeswoman Gretchen Hamel.

Ernst, who has been away on Iowa Army National Guard duty, slightly outraised Braley in the second quarter, bringing in $1.78 million to Braley’s $1.65 million. But Braley had a significant cash-on-hand advantage as of June 30: $2.7 million to $1.1 million. They are competing to succeed retiring Democrat Tom Harkin.